


The Cogwheels of Eternity

by MatCauthon



Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Steampunk, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-21 00:10:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3670182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MatCauthon/pseuds/MatCauthon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John Watson is clockmaker who repairs the life clocks that count down a person's time. Sherlock Holmes is snobby, high-class consulting detective with a penchant for sticking his nose where it has no right business to be. When Mycroft suggests Sherlock move out and get a roommate, Sherlock is absolutely indignant. That is, until he meets a certain clockmaker with all the makings of becoming the best assistant detective the world has ever seen. Soon Sherlock and John are thrown into a world of stolen time, mystery, and a society rife with political intrigue and horrible secrets, all the while following a name that seems to be creating chaos wherever it goes: Jim Moriarty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Cogwheels of Eternity

**Author's Note:**

> I have to set up the world and I thought it would be nice to have a kind of reference to the rules, so I posted this prologue as a way to help people understand what the heck is going on. Also, I really love an old school Narrator and I thought it would go perfectly with Steampunk, so this kind of fell out of my head onto the page with a rather torrid splat. Ooops.  
>   
> The John/Sherlock part of this story will be more intellectual than physical, but it will most certainly be present. I marked this down as M/M for their relationship, but Gen because their relationship as lovers won't be the main focus as opposed to plot and their bromance (you can totally be best friends and lovers at the same time). Hope you aren't too scared off by this beginning mess; I will introduce our players in the next chapter.

Society was in quite the strange place in the time period when our two heroes met. You see, money had long ceased to be anything of true value, because why would one use money when they could use time? Fear not, dear reader, you haven’t lost your literary skills; I did say time. Mankind advanced to such a degree that they developed a way for people to become immortal. A veritable philosopher’s stone for each and every human being, if you will. However, as with any form of immortality, this one came with a price, as time, like matter, cannot be created or destroyed; it must move ever onwards.

Let me explain to you a little of the overall concept, as the science would only serve to muddle your head more than even our wonderful Mr. Holmes muddles our poor Mr. Watson. Each and every person is born with a set amount of time, as the basic principle of humans moving through time cannot be altered. If you’re lucky, you’re born with a good, long eighty years. If you’re unlucky, I’m afraid a tiny twenty may weigh lightly in your pocket and heavily in your heart. Such is the world; life has never been called fair. Now imagine if you could gain more time. Turn that twenty into an eighty, with the obvious correlation being your frown upside down.

How does one go about gaining an extra sixty years? It’s not very easy, mind you, but it certainly is possible. As I’ve implied in my opening statement, time is now a currency. Minutes, hours, days, or even years can be traded from one person to another. If you’d like a new car, why it only costs one year! One year will be taken from your life clock and given to the car dealer’s life clock. Yes, this ‘philosopher’s stone’ created was none other than our modern day life clock. On it is the amount of time you have left to live. Once it gets to zero, I’m afraid immortality is no longer yours. Although, I _do_ use the term ‘immortality’ loosely; if you are struck by an automobile or stabbed walking down the street, the time you have saved up on your clock simply disappears.

Where does it go, then? Why, since it can’t be destroyed, it is sent to a new babe being born and it becomes the amount of time on their life clock, of course. This is the way our new society works; when a person dies unexpectedly, a new babe can be born. It’s certainly served to keep the population manageable down here. However, before I explain what I mean by ‘down here,’ I suppose I’ll summarize the rules of time exchange so you can understand just what kind of world it is that our heroes live in. Keep in mind that time, of course, means the amount of seconds, minutes, hours, weeks, years, etc. that you have to live.

 

  1.         The day you are born, a life clock is inserted into your soul to measure the amount of time you have
  2.         You are born with a set amount of time, though that can be altered by trading and/or bartering
  3.        Once your reach the age of seven, you can begin to barter time, be it losing time or gaining time
  4.       Time must be given willingly, it cannot be stolen (although if you are held at gunpoint and a person demands time, your consent under that pressure counts as ‘given willingly’)
  5.        Time can be given or received for anything or nothing, meaning you can use it to barter for objects, or you can give it as a simple gift
  6.       One cannot achieve limitless time, but they can achieve hundreds or even thousands of years if they receive it from others
  7.        Time can be bartered as many times as one wishes with anyone at all, until it is completely gone
  8.       A person’s body does indeed age, but with the amount of knowledge and technology society has now, any organ can replaced (including heart and brain), any dead cells can be regenerated, any wrinkles removed, etc. so that one can continue looking and feeling whatever age they choose for however long they live
  9.       If one grows tired of living, they can choose to give away all of their time to a friend or they can give their time to a new babe   
  10.       Life clocks are simple machines to measure time and serve as a medium through which time can be traded. As such, they can most certainly break. In case of a life clock breaking, one cannot give or receive time until it is fixed. That is why we have people like Mr. Watson, working diligently to ensure people can continue their lives as they desire.



 

To expand on number eight, though even our brilliant scientists have discovered much in the past few centuries, they are still completely uncertain as to where ‘time’ comes from, and what the ‘soul’ truly is. All they know is that, unlike our predecessors believed, time does not come from the body. Religion in and of itself is still quite the mystery, and I do believe it shall remain such until we lose our time and discover the afterlife (if indeed there is one) for ourselves.

Alas, I’m afraid I don’t know much more of the science of time. I do, however, know the winding, sprawling city our heroes live in, and I will gladly speak on it. Many moons ago—how many no one can be certain—the earth’s surface that we lived on was filled with a toxic waste. Even with all of our collective knowledge, there was no way to get rid of it. And so, we did the best we could to stay upon our earth without being able to breathe on the surface; we moved underground. Deep, deep down so that no toxins could reach us through layer upon layer of solid rock. Like ants, we dug so much we created many cities. Not every person made it, but we did our best.

The city our protagonists populate is a fairly small one, and it was created from a love of Britain and all things Victorian era. Cobblestone streets glitter under the genetically enhanced minerals, which glow in the daytime to give our city a healthy, vibrant glow reminiscent of the sun. By dark, when the old-fashioned, hydrogen powered automobiles are tucked snugly in their garages, the minerals dim down to create a sparkling night, where rock silently and diligently watches over men and women carrying out their nightly duties by candlelight. Fashion is all large, handmade dresses or tight laced bodices set over light breeches for women, and top hats matched with canes and buttons for the men (although some men fancy the dresses as well, which is perfectly alright in our more open-minded society). Electronics are rare; we were forced to revert back to less toxic materials so we didn’t pollute our underground as well. We now use gramophones for music and antique telephones for calling. Don’t feel sorry for this place, however, because after some years growing up without the aid of computers and cellphones, we are now content with good old novels and board games.

There are many more things I could go on to speak to you about, but soon enough you’ll discover the world and society through the eyes of Mr. Holmes. As much as I enjoy this explanation, with no real story it isn’t nearly as exciting as watching the world fly by in dizzying shades of crime and intrigue. And so, without further ado, we shall go on, on to the story of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, who must work together to solve all manners of mysteries, with the overarching villain being one James Moriarty.


End file.
